Incubator.



No. 824,665. PATENTED JUNE 26, 190.6.

C. A. LINGEMANN.

INGUBATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FBB,14,1906.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 1 ATTORNEY.

No. 824,665. PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906. C. A. LINGEMANN.

INGUBATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

INCUBATOR- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1906.

Application filed February 14, 1906. Serial No- 301,045.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN A. Linen- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Incubators, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in incubators; and it consistsin the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forthin the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of thelincubator withparts broken away. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan with top wall partly broken away.Fig. 4 is a combined section and elevation of the heating-drum andeggtester. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6is an enlarged detail face elevation showing the construction of any oneof the feathered panels. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on line 7 7 ofFig. 6. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail plan of one corner of the egg-tray.Fig. 9 is a vertical section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10

is an enlarged detail plan of one corner of the nursery-tray. Fig. 11 isa vertical section on line 11 11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a sectionaldetail showing the double door at the bottom of the incubator-box andshowing the nursery-tray supported over the inner featherpaneled door,and Fig. 13 is a perspective detail showing the curtain used to excludethe air during the testing of the eggs.

The object of my invention is to construct an incubator in which the aircan be positively retained at a constant temperature, one in which aninflux of fresh air will not in any wise affect the constancy anduniformity in the tem erature, one in which cold air shall be exc udedfrom the bottom of the eg tray, one in which the heated .air may beevenly distributed over the eggs in the eggtray, one in which thechickens may find ready access to the nursery-tray, one rovided with aspecial egg-tester which wil exclude the heat from the egg during theprocess of testing, one from which the cold air may be excluded in thewithdrawal of the eggs from the tray for the purpose of inspection, onein which the quantity of cold air admitted may be carefully regulated,and

one possessing further and other advantages better apparent from adetailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, B represents a wooden box or inclosure havingfront lower hinged glass-paneled doors 1 1 disposed on either side ofthe center of the box, the said doors being directly in front of thenurserytrays 3. The latter slide in and out between the ledges 4, thesame ledges serving to support the eggtrays 5. The ledges 1 are formed,respectively, in the side walls of the box and in the central bottompartition-wall 6, though, of course, any equivalent mechanicalconstruction would answer the same purose.

The vertical walls of the box are. provided with feathered panels P, allof substantially identical construction, the details of suc panel beingshown fully in Figs. 6 and 7. The panel comprises an outer frame 7, abead 8, wire screens 9 9, and a filling of feathers 10. Preferably(though not necessarily) there are located metal shields 11 11" oppositethe side panels, Fig. 1, for guiding and directing the cold air into thebox through the panels. It will be noticed that in no instance does thebottom of a feathered panel extend below the bottom of the egg-tray, sothat the danger of any cold air striking the eg -tray bottom is entirelyeliminated.

Disposed in a suitable casing 12 in the top of the front wall of the boxBis a spring-actuated roller-shade 13, which may be pulled down by acord 14, the bottom of the cord being provided with a knot or head 15,by means of which it may be seized. The cord passes through an openingin the bottom of the box,as shown. The lower edge of the shade 13 isformed into a series of slit ends 5 1 1, the slits affording access tothe eggs in the tray, serving as means for the passage of the hand andarm, the ends 1&1 enveloping the hand sufficiently to exclude cold airfrom the eggtray, as is obvious. To remove an egg from the tray forpurposes of examination, the operator first draws down the shade orcurtain 13, then opens the door 1, inserts his hand through the slit endof the shade and withdraws the egg. Upon conclusion of the examinationthe door 1 is closed and the shade is allowed to roll up, as shown inFig. 2.

Disposed within the box B across the eggtrays is a concave shield 16,whose front and ICC from the corresponding vertical walls of the box,leaving contracted passages 17 for the flow of the heated air-currentsto the space between the egg-trays and the shield, Fig. 2. The air abovethe shield is heated by a coil of piping 18, through which pass theproducts of combustion from a heating-drum or heater presently to bespecifically described. The pipe 18 terminates in an escape-flue 18outside the box B, Figs. 1, 3.

At the bottom of the incubator is a solid hinged door 19, provided withopenings or airpassages 20, over which is a feather-paneled hinged door21, constructed on the order of the feather panels heretofore described,said feather-paneled doors 21 serving to admit air into thenursery-trays supported immediately thereover. The bottom of thenurserytray is provided with a wire screen or floor 22, Figs. 10, 11,resting on a screen 22 at the bottom of the box B. Over the tray-floor22 is laid a canvas or equivalent mat 23, kept flat by a metal border orframe 24. The eggtrays are likewise provided with a wire-screen bottom25, over which are disposed a series of rods 26 for the support of theeggs E, Fig. 9.

The operation of the incubator so far described may be summarized asfollows: The feathered arrows show the influx and passage of cold airinto and through the box B, through the feathered panels P. The feathersact as a sieve, allowing fresh air to enter the box above the eggswithout creating a draft and without disturbing the constancy of thetemperature acquired by the layer of air immediately over the trays 5and between said trays and the shield 16. The plain arrows show thecourse of the heated air above the shield, descending through the narrowpassages 17 around the shield, and there commingling with the fresh airand retaining the latter at a uniform temperature. The passages 17,being constricted, naturally cause the currents passing through them toflow at an increased velocity, and thus thoroughly commingle with thefresh air beneath and around the shield. The latter, on the other hand,having curved walls, serves to gradually dissipate the eommingledcurrents with out creating any perceptible draft, and hence uniformityof temperature is assured for the air over the eggs. Once the eggs arehatched the chicks find their way over the sides of the egg-trays intothe nursery-trays below,

where they may be supplied with the necessary quantity of air eitherthrough the openings 20 of the door 19 or by opening the latter, throughthe feathered door 21 and through the wire-screen floor 22 and canvas 23of the nursery-tray. The amount of air can thus be regulated to thenewly-born chicks, as is apparent. The use of the curtain 13 has alreadybeen explained and need not be here reviewed.

The heater or drum H, as best shown in Fig. 4, is composed of anenveloping mineralwool casing or wall 25 and an inner pipe or flue 26for the passage of the combustion products, said flue connecting to thepiping 18, previously described. Between the flue 26 and casing 25 is anannular air-space 27, which leads to an annular air-space 28 between thepiping 18 and an enveloping pipe 29. These heated fresh-air currentsenter the box B above the shield 16 and contribute their share to theheating of the air within the box in addition to the heat radiated fromthe walls of the flues or piping 18. The lower projecting portion of theflue 26 re* ceives the lamp-flue 30, the lamp being provided with anoil-receptacle 31, resting on a block 32, supported or secured to abracket 33 of any approved design. The flue 26 is partially encompassedby a wire bracket 34, which is bent in such a way as to affordguidebearings for the lower ends of the vertical stay-rods 35, whichsecure the opposite ends or heads of the drum to the body thereof. Inthis way the drum becomes well secured to the box B. The lamp-flue has alaterally-projecting tube 36, at the base of which, opposite the flamef,is a lens 37, held in position by a wire rod 38, soldered to a thimble39, slipped over the resilient arms 40, disposed about the periphery ofthe tube 36. The outer end of the thimble 39 is closed by a cap-piece41, between which and the end of the tube is held a sheet of canvas 42,the canvas and cap-piece having registering openings for receiving an egE for purposes of inspection before placing the same into the egg-tray.The lens 37 intercepts the heat rays from the flame, but not thelight-rays, so that an egg may be tested without danger of beingaffected by the heat previous to its being laced in the incubator.

In lieu of the feathers in the feather panels I may of course substituteany equivalent material for filtering the air and reducing its velocityon the verge of its entry into the incrbator,

Such features of construction as are shown, but to which no referencehas been made, are well known. and. fully understood in the art and formno part of my present invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. An incubatorcomprising a suitable box: or inclosure, means for supporting an eggtraytherein, a shield located above the tray, means for heating the airabove the shield, means for admitting fresh air above the tray, theshield being spaced from. the walls of the box to form assages forpermitting a union between the iieated air and the air above theegg-tray, substantially as set forth.

2. An incubator comprising a suitable box or inclosure, means forsupporting an eggtray therein, a shield located above the tray andforming contracted passages with the walls of the inclosure,heatingpipes disposed above the shield, and a series of feather panelsfor delivering fresh air above the trays, substantially as set forth.

3. An incubator comprising a suitable box or inclosure, means forsupportim an eggtray therein, a nursery-tray located beneath theegg-tray and accessible to the chicks hatched in said egg-tray, a curvedshield disposed within the inclosure above the eggtray, heating-pipeslocated above the shie d, contracted passages between the shield andinclosure-walls for the flow of the heated air below the shield, aseries of feather panels disposed in the inclosure-walls above theeggtray, a feather-panel door below the nurserytray, and a solid doorhaving openings contiguous, and below the feather-panel door,substantially as set forth.

4. In an incubator asuitable inclosure, and a series of panels disposedalong the walls thereof, and comprising each a frame, a nettin of wire,and a filling of feathers, substantiafiy as set forth.

5. An incubator having a series of feather panels for filtering thefresh air admitted thereto, substantially as set forth.

6. An incubator having a nursery-tray comprising a frame, a wire-nettingbottom, and a canvas Inat, substantially as set forth.

7. In an incubator, an inclosure or box having means of access to theinterior thereof, a shade adapted to be drawn in the path of said meansof access, and formations in the shade for the insertion of the handwhereby drafts of air are excluded from the interior of the inclosure,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN A. LINGEMANN.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, Jos. A. MICHEL.

